Sexy fragrances with a side of hot Nacho

MANILA, Philippines - At a small conference room discreetly tucked into one side of Manila Pen, the crowd is oddly hushed. It is 11 a.m., after all, and some of us have barely slept.

While members of Manila’s lifestyle press wait for Nacho Figueras, who is rumored to be charging obscene hourly rates to participate in this press conference, they fill their time by looking at beautifully art-directed images of Figueras that paper the conference room’s walls.

There’s Figueras looking solemnly out to sea in a blue shirt atop a yacht. In another one, he’s in his polo uniform, gazing soulfully at the camera.

Say what you will about the polo player but the man knows how to sell perfume.

Lookin’ fine, Figueras: Nacho Figueras, a professional polo player blessed with more than his fair share of good looks, will be making his movie debut in a Farrelly brothers picture, Hall Pass, starring Owen Wilson. “I’m in it for my two and a half seconds of fame,” he jokes. Figueras was in Manila to participate in a local polo match hosted by Bobby Aguirre.

When he arrives, striding onto the podium in a finely tailored suit, the mood instantly lifts.

The man is sexy. No doubt about it. And, according to the event’s host Bianca Valerio, he also smells good.

“I grew up wearing the Polo Green fragrance as a kid,” says the 33-year-old Argentinean. “If you can believe it, that fragrance has been on the market for 30 years.”

The crowd laughs, charmed by his charismatic presence.

Named one of Vanity Fair’s sexiest men (second only to Robert Pattinson, oddly enough), Figueras was originally made endorser of Polo Black but soon represented the World of Polo, which includes Polo Reserve and Polo Blue, in ad campaigns.

It’s a man’s world: World of Polo fragrances are made up of varying scents designed for every situation. “They are scents to be worn for different occasions,” says Nacho Figueras.

The World of Polo is a “wardrobe of fragrances,” according to Figueras. “They are scents to be worn for different occasions.”

“Polo Green is traditional,” he says. Rooted in tradition, the floral notes of herbal basil and chamomile mingle with leather and tobacco, with base notes of patchouli and oakmoss.

While Green is the great American classic, Polo Blue is a mix of melon de Cavaillon, basil verbena and washed suede. “Blue is fresher with a lemony scent,” he adds.

Polo Black, Figueras’ original scent, is dark and sophisticated with notes of iced mango, Spanish sage, patchouli noir and sandalwood.

“This is for your athletic side,” he says of Polo Red, White and Blue. A crisp tonic that embraces the freshness of red apple and cucumber next to the vibrant notes of clary sage and lavender tonic and base notes of creamy white woods and white musks, this fragrance is a cooler take on Polo Blue.

“There’s a different fragrance for different moments in your life, in your day,” Figueras says.

Now, if only Polo could bottle up some of that sexy Nacho essence, the World of Polo would be complete.